Sewer cleaner



March 31, 1942. w, EMERY SEWER CLEANER Filed May 31, 1940 INVENTOR. BY WILLIAM MEMERY ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 31, 192

William M. Emery, Cleveland Heights, out, as-

- simor to The Outer Manufacturing Company,

Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio 7 Application May 31, 1940, Serial No. 338,145

1 Claim. (01. 15-10430) This invention pertains to a sewer pipe cleaner of thetype wherein a motor and chuck on a movable'mounting drive a long flexible shaft, generally called a snake, which carries some sort of a clearingtool at its front 'end. The purposes of the invention include improvement of the drive and imparting a more effective motion to the snake.

The object of the invention, to give the snake a more effective motion than a simple rotation, is preferably accomplished by so connecting the snake to the drive unit that the snake has a flopping or wriggling movement in addition to its rotation, and thus tends to keep material which has been dislodged by the working tool stirred up and'well loosened behind the tool.

The couplings are capable of being passed through the rotatable driving chuck or spindle with the snake, so that additional snake sections may, if more convenient, be added from behind instead of from in front of thedrive unit.

A preferred form of the invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawing and the following detailed description.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 a front elevation of the drive and mounting of the cleaner, with a portion of a snake therein; parts of the drive casing being broken away to show the power take-off; I

Fig. 3 is a side view of the drive pulley, detailed, taken from a location. in the assembly which is generally indicated by arrows 3'3 in Figs; 1 and 2.

The power unit comprises a gear motor I and chuck 2 driven thereby, all mounted on a platform or dolly 3 which rolls on casters 4, and has a lifting handle 5 at the balance point of the drive housing 6. The motor is preferably series wound universal, high speed, with variable speed located reversing snap switch I. It drives shaft 9 through suitable reduction gearing in the gear I motor housing. Three pulley members II), II and I2, forming two variable V-channels, are keyed to shaft 9. The rear pulley member I0 is backed against a shoulder 13 on shaft 9, while H and I! are longitudinally movable on the key. The forward travel of II is limited by a nut II which can be set where desired along shaft 9, althoughlocking means are omitted to simplify the drawing. Two flat-bottomed V-belts l5 are driven by the pulleys and in turn drive a larger flat pulley [6 on the forward end of a spindle I! through which the snake I 8 passes and to the forwardend of whichthe snake is clamped by a chuck having a lower jaw I9 fixed to one side of the spindle and an upper jaw 20 with opposed arcuate notches I 8A in each, the upper jaw being opened and closed by a pressure screwil. The chuck is thus eccentric to the rotation of the spindle, and thereby gives the snake a flopping movement in addition to its rotation. Smaller opposed v notches IBB, offset to one side, are alternatively used to hold a special snake of angular cross section, such as are known in the art.

The action of the drive is that the tension on belts l5 can be closely and accurately adjusted by setting up or backing off the nut ll, thus determining the overload at which slippage will occur before the force applied to the snake causes the latter to break or kink. The distance between centers of shaft 9 and spindle I1 is fixed and permanent, thus avoiding the mechanical complications and disadvantages of relatively movable shaft centers without losing the capability of controlling the belt slippage point. Any slight difference in the effective length of the two belts I5 is compensated by floating of the middle pulley member ll along the shaft 9.

Operation 'the dolly is near the opening the motor is stopped,

the chuck loosened, the dolly pulled back and the chuck clamped at whatever distance is selected for the next advance. When the entire length of the snake (usually feet) is so used up, another length is coupled on and the process continued. If the coupling is small enough to pass through the spindle II, the additional length of snake may be added either behind or in front of the drive unit.

Where a cutting tool is advancing in the pipe without serious resistance it will be turning rapidly and thus attacks any difllcult obstruction to good advantage. As the resistance becomes greater the torque of the series motor is increased, so that the tool still works advantageously. 'Where a coiled snake is used the snake itself stores power, and its action is cumulative to that of the motor. As the resistance increases the continuing drive closes the snake coils, and since the motor is gradually slowing down, this coil closing is gradual, and the operator can judge its extent, and the resistance the cutterismeetinz;

by the feel of the snake. The belts will slip before the snake breaks. If the going becomes too dimcult the operator will withdraw the tool from the obstruction a short distance by pulling the snake back a little, whereupon the snake will give up its stored energy, whirling the tool rapidly. and the motor will also automatically speed up; the operator then quickly feeds the snake forward again to geta fast cut in the obstructing material. This operation may be repeated as k '1; wmxbe understood that 'the foregoing description, with illustrative drawina. covers the preferred form of my invention, by way oi example rather than limitation, and that the scope of the inventionis tob'c ascertained by the claim.

I claim:

In a sewier' cleaning apparatus. in combination,

' driving means; a driven spindle, a chuck in said often as necessary. Since the action or the 1 motor is automatic both hands of. the operator are free to manipulate'the snake.

spindle and of! the center-oi rotation thereof, a snake adapted to pass through said spindle and to be held by said chuck, said oi! center chuck being adapted to give said "snake a bodily flop- 1 ping spiral motion in addition to its rotation.

WILLIAM M. EMERY. 

